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Strawberry Iced Tea

Strawberry Iced Tea is made with sweet, fresh, strawberry simple syrup for a refreshing summer drink!

Sometimes at the end of a long, excruciating grocery store trip, I reward myself on the way to the check-out lane by grabbing a frosty bottle of peach iced tea. I enjoy it as I drive home and unload the groceries, patting myself on the back for a (dreaded) job well done (or at least accomplished).

On a recent trip to the grocery store, however, there was no peach iced tea to be found as I rounded the corner with my overflowing shopping cart. There was, however, bottled Strawberry Iced Tea, so I decided to give it a go. Wouldn’t you know…it was delicious. And it inspired me to devise a recipe at home!

I’ll be honest…on my first attempt of this recipe, I decided to go the easy route while also making the tea as healthy as I could muster. The resulting Strawberry Iced Tea was good, but not great. Pureeing and straining the strawberries was quick, but it made the tea rather cloudy. And using honey instead of sugar made the tea taste like, well, honey. While tasty and refreshing, it didn’t satisfy my craving for a good old-fashioned sweet tea infused with fruit.

So on my next attempt, I called upon a Homemade Strawberry Syrup recipe that I shared a few years back as the source for my strawberry tea goodness. Sure enough, combining this delectable strawberry simple syrup with freshly brewed black tea resulted in a beverage that was everything I’d been hoping for…bold berry flavor plus pure cane sugar sweetness in a thirst-quenching iced tea.

Is this tea a healthy, everyday drink? No, not really. But it is a yummy, refreshing, bliss-inducing summertime beverage. It’s a special recipe for entertaining loved ones, celebrating a special occasion, or treating yourself. It’s the epitome of summer in a tall, ice cube-brimming glass!

I say the next time you dread a trip to the grocery store, whip up a pitcher of Strawberry Iced Tea as a reward once you return home. You’ll never be so motivated to put an errand behind you! 😉

Strawberry Iced Tea

Strawberry Iced Tea

Strawberry Iced Tea is made with sweet, fresh, strawberry simple syrup for a refreshing summer drink!

Ingredients

6 1/2cupswater, DIVIDED, plus more as needed

4family-sized ice tea bags

16ouncesfresh , very ripe strawberries, diced

1cupsugar

Ice

Instructions

In a medium pot set over high heat, bring 3 cups water to a rolling boil. Remove the pot from the heat, submerge the tea bags in the water, and steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and pour the tea into a pitcher along with 2 more cups of water. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Add the strawberry pieces to the same pot and mash with a potato masher (or fork). Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups water to the pot, stir to combine, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Set a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain the strawberry juice into the bowl, pressing on the strawberry pulp to ensure that all of the juice has been extracted. Discard the pulp. Return the strawberry juice to the pot along with the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam that may appear.

Remove the strawberry syrup from the heat, allow it to cool for a few minutes, and then pour it into the tea. Cover and chill. Just before serving, taste the tea. If weaker tea is desired, stir in additional water, 1/2 cup at a time, tasting in between additions. Pour over ice and serve immediately.

Notes

Be sure that the pot you use is not too small, as the strawberry syrup will foam and rise up the sides of the pot while cooking. I use a 3-quart pot and it works perfectly.

If you prefer, you can make a pitcher of tea and a batch of strawberry syrup and keep them separate, allowing people to add their desired amount of syrup to their glass of tea just before drinking it.

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Hi, I’m Samantha . . .

a busy wife and tired mama of two energetic boys and a sweet little girl living in Texas. I love cooking, writing, eating queso, watching college football, and taking way too many pics of my kids. In my “spare” time, I run this food blog and I wrote a cookbook. The days are crazy but the love is plenty between the five hearts that make up our home! (click for more)